Tomato season is here! We somehow managed to miss tomato season for the last couple of years. We would be too busy to shop at the farmer’s market and miss the opportunity for perfect, fresh, juicy tomatoes in peak season. Well, not this year, folks. This year, we made tomatoes a priority.

Of course, time is still hard to come by, so we made the fastest and simplest recipe we could think of with our fresh tomato bounty. This cucumber and tomato salad takes almost no time at all, and it’s the perfect side to any summer meal.

Ingredients:

2 large tomatoes, sliced into thin wedges
1 large cucumber, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Mix olive oil, vinegar and oregano.
2. Combine all ingredients in bowl and toss to coat in dressing.
3. Salt and pepper to taste.

Definitely play around with different herbs, oils, and try swapping lemon juice for the vinegar. The most important ingredient here is those fresh tomatoes, and the rest is up to you.

What’s your favorite way to eat fresh tomatoes? Let us know in the comments!

It is full-fledged stone fruit season. But what is a stone fruit, you wonder? It’s those delicious peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, and cherries that are flooding your local farmer’s market and grocery store.

Lucky for us, we have a couple of options for you to get from stone fruit to dessert as fast as you can say “flour, sugar, butter.” Check out our infographic below for more info on making cobblers, crisps, and crumbles.

Happy August Desserting, everyone! What is your favorite combo?

Growing up on the east coast, and specifically in Connecticut, there were a handful of foods that when I now described to people seem very very strange. I love birch beer, for example, but when I moved to Michigan I realized this wasn’t a nation-wide thing. Neither was good pizza, Italian bakeries in every town, sandwiches on really good bread, Jax (oh how I love Jax!), and really good pretzel rods. The list goes on and on (don’t get me started on Dunkin Donuts) but recently, I found myself alone lamenting over the lack of fried dough, as August reminds me of church fair season, which to me is the best time of the year.

To me, fried dough is basically like a pizza – it is savory, with sauce and topped with parmesan cheese. When I moved to Michigan, the Chelsea Fair had elephant ears, but there was no savory toppings to be had. But upon bringing up my childhood of Fried Dough Fridays in the school cafeteria in my elementary days, even my fellow New Englanders in Los Angeles were confused.

I did a quick Internet search to affirm my childhood lunch choices, but there weren’t really that many instances of this delicious (albeit not quite healthy) food choice – so I naturally realized that I must make it immediately for everyone to try at home.

Luckily, King Arthur Flour yet again had an amazing recipe for us, so we followed this to a tee and then we slathered the top with red sauce and a healthy amount of parmesan cheese.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of eating fried dough this way, I suggest you head to the kitchen right now and get started. If you DID eat this growing up (or now, even!) comment please and reaffirm I am not crazy and did not make this one up!

Happy Fair season, everyone!

We like to cook with music playing, and while Jennie and I both have varied, and at times differing tastes in music, our blog cooking days are usually set to a very specific soundtrack. This playlist (split into volume 1 and 2) contains some of our kitchen favorites. You can see that we love reminiscing with bands and singers from the 90’s; we love ballads and crooners that we can sing along to; and of course we love a good pop song that makes us dance around the kitchen like fools.

GMS Kitchen Volume 1
1. Photograph – Ed Sheeran
2. Dear Chicago – Ryan Adams
3. Leavin’ – Jesse McCartney
4. This Year – The Mountain Goats
5. Call Your Girlfriend – Robyn
6. Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby – Counting Crows
7. Earthquake Weather – Matt Nathanson
8. I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Somebody Who Loves Me) – Whitney Houston
9. Down in the Valley – The Head and the Heart
10. Hallelujah – Ryan Adams
11. Afire Love – Ed Sheeran
12. Georgie Clay – Josh Kelley
13. End of the Road – Boyz II Men
14. XO – John Mayer
15. Back 2 Good – Matchbox Twenty
16. Stay With Me – Sam Smith
17. You Need Me, I Don’t Need You – Ed Sheeran
18. Make You Fall In Love With Me – Brett Dennen

GMS Kitchen Volume 2
1. How Will I Know (Acappella) – Whitney Houston
2. To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High) – Ryan Adams
3. Something I Need – OneRepublic
4. Love Soon – John Mayer
5. Gonna Get Over You – Sara Bareilles
6. Sons and Daughters – Allman Brown, Liz Lawrence
7. Bloodstream – Ed Sheeran
8. Pusher Love Girl – Justin Timberlake
9. Country Road – James Taylor
10. The Outsiders – Needtobreathe
11. Come Pick Me Up – Ryan Adams
12. Dancing On My Own – Robyn
13. When We Were Young – Brett Dennen
14. Thinking Out Loud – Ed Sheeran
15. It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday – Jason Mraz
16. Hey Mama – Mat Kearney
17. We Don’t Eat (Acoustic) – James Vincent McMorrow
18. A Life That’s Good – Nashville Cast, Lennon & Maisy

Let us know what kind of music you like to listen to while cooking!

POP QUIZ! Do you know which produce is in season right now? August is kind of a weird time, so if you have no idea, we don’t blame you. Summer is fading into fall and it’s tough to remember which fruits and veggies are begging to be eaten. Luckily, we’ve got your back. This month’s desktop calendar features beets, corn, cucumbers, eggplant and tomatoes. All of which should now be available to you, locally and fresh. Dig in!